River Walk along the Morobbia and the Ticino from Giubiasco to Castione

Thursday February 20, 2025 -- Here and there now a few days without fog, but very overcast, even in the Ticino, except this Thursday (Urs even swapped his days off), so we headed there for some sunshine. What was our surprise when we got to Bellinzona and couldn't see ANY of the many mountains surrounding this city because of the very hazy air! In fact, we could barely see the three fortresses which the city is famous for. (This has rarely ever been the case for the many trips we have made here).  

We had planned a riverside walk (Morobbia and Ticino Rivers) ending at the Castel Grande fortress, but there wasn’t much point in heading up to the castle (which we had visited back in 2015, but is definitely worth another visit), so we just extended our walk along the Ticino River to end further north at the train station in Castione-Arbedo, an almost 11-kilometer walk in all. As outings go, it was probably the best choice for this day: Going higher up would not have given us the views we love, and because the trees were devoid of leaves, we saw more of the rivers than we would have in summer. Also, the small footpaths along the river made the walk more interesting. (Usually I don't manage such long riverbank walks). 

It only takes us 1 hour and 40 minutes to get from home to Giubiasco, where we started our walk, so the trip isn’t a great loss for us, even if it’s not quite what we had expected.

It took us a little over 90 minutes to get from home to Giubiasco, where we started our walk at about 11:25 from the train station to a small church which we saw on the map. The church is called San Giobbe, built in 1627 and renovated in the 19th Century. 

Three of the walls were fairly plain (it looked like a simple Romanesque building), but the apse side is heavily decorated with stucco artwork. 

The frescoes depict the life of the Virgin Mary, and the large painting behind the altar depicts the Holy Trinity between two angels and is a valuable work of art by a (Swiss?) artist named Alessandro Gorla (17th Century). 

We had a peek into the small building next to the church, where I glanced a very nice ceiling with paintings, but there was currently a wake going on for a recently deceased person, so we closed the door right away and left 

In Giubiasco.

In the center of Giubiasco is another church we have visited once before (March 2021, photos HERE), and passed recently on a walk down from the mountains which we see in the background (those photos HERE). The church is called Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta. The church was built in the 12th Century, then later enlarged in the 15th Century and rebuilt in the Baroque style in the 17th Century. 

Entering the church through the pretty carved wooden main doors, from 1777. 

The frescoes on the interior were discovered during renovations in the 20th Century. They date from the 15th and 16th Centuries. 

The apse is richly covered in stucco sculptures and features a beautiful marble altar from 1793. 

The organ (built in 2008) is HUGE and takes up about 1/3rd of the back part of the building. On the right is a fresco featuring "The Last Supper". 

Checking out the various restaurants here as it was close to lunch time, but we decided to walk to the Morobbia River and look for a bench there to eat the sandwiches we had brought along. 

To the north we finally can see a bit of the mountains here. That one is called Pizzo di Claro. 

We got to the Morobbia River at noon, but it was so hazy that we could not even see the mountains at the back of the Morobbia Valley!

We found a convenient bench and ate our sandwiches here, before heading out on our walk.

From the train station in Giubiasco, we walked to the town center, then toward the Morobbia River which we followed to where it enters the Ticino River. The rest of the walk was along the Ticino river, past the castles in Bellinzona, to the train station in Castione-Arbedo. In all it was 11 kilometers, starting at 11:30 and getting to Castione at shortly after 3 p.m. 

Following a trail along the Morobbia River. 

Along the way we saw this sign that reads "Morobbia River Trail"; it is probably used mostly by locals. 

Up river we can now see the mountains at the back of the Morobbia Valley. We have done a couple of hikes there in 2016 (those photos are HERE and HERE.)

We had to cross under the railway line to get to the Ticino River. 

Heading west toward the Ticino River. 

Another look up the Morobbia Valley

This is where the Morobbia River enters the Ticino River. That interesting bridge behind Urs reflected blue and yellow onto the river!

This is where the Morobbia River enters the Ticino River. 

Now we follow the river northwards for seven kilometers (Although originally the idea was leave the river at the level of the Castel Grande Fortress). 

The National Trail no.7: Via Gottardo runs parallel to the river as well, but on a dam just slightly to the east of here. Although that trail gives a better view of the castles, this smaller footpath through a park we found out later was called the "Parco Fluviale Saleggi-Boschetti"--a renaturation project by the city of Bellinzona--was more interesting. 

Along the way we passed several bridges spanning the Ticino River. This one leads to the community of Monte Carasso, where the Sementina River enters the Ticino. (Upriver along the Sementina is the fabulous Tibetan Bridge which we crossed a couple of times. Some of the photos are HERE. We also did a large loop hike higher on that mountain back in March of 2019, from where we got a look at the Bellinzona castles from above. Photos HERE). 

We passed through a section of the park with many very pretty birch trees. 

Up ahead is another large bridge crossing the river, the main motor-vehicle bridge from Bellinzona to Monte Carasso. All along this trail we remarked that we could see more of the river at this time of year, when the trees are leafless, than we would have in summer!

This is the north end of the "Saleggi-Boschetti Riverside Park" renaturation project, with another cool bridge crossing the river. To the north is the summit of Pizzo di Claro. 

This was the information placard we saw at the north end of the park, which informed us that the entire trail we had just walked from the Morobbia River was a riverside renaturization project, starting in 2020, with additional sections planned for 2025. 

A really cool bridge!

At some point we left the smaller footpath and climbed up to the dam trail, for a view of the three fortresses which are the features of the city which make it a UNESCO heritage site. The large one in the front is Castel Grande, on the left you can make out the Castello di Montebello, and higher up on the mountain is the Castello di Sasso Corbaro. (We visited all of these castles in 2015, photos are HERE). 

Looking back behind us at the dam trail which we are now walking on. 

This trail is part of two National Trails: "No.7: Via Gottardo" and "No.2: Trans-Swiss Trail". To the south, this riverside trail is alled "Magadino Trail" (Magadino is the valley basin between here and Lake Maggiore), and to the north where we are headed along the "Riviera Trail", another hour to go to the train station in Castione. ("Riviera" is the valley between here and Biasca) 

Heading north along the dam trail next to the Ticino River. 

Directly to the east we study that mountain, wondering if we walked across that flank. We determined that it was across this mountain flank which we walked in March of 2021 when we visited the mountain villages up there, after also that first visit of the Santa Maria Assunta church in Giubiasco. (Photos HERE)

The summit of Pizzo di Claro comes into view again. We are, once again, in awe that we have walked up there, having taken a cable car about two-thirds up the mountain and spending a night in a hostel (at the right arrow) before continuing over the ridge to the Calanca Valley (left arrow) on the next day (those photos are HERE). 

Another look behind us. 

To the left of the walking trail was a very large off-leash dog park, fortunately separated from the walking trail by a fence. It was interesting to watch all the people with their many dogs walking there. 

A short detour (unintentionally) down to the river in Arbedo, and a view of the Castello di Montebello above Bellinzona to the south. 

Across the river we see the bell-tower of a church in the village of Gorduno, a place we have not yet visited, so an option for a future trip (although there are not a lot of hiking trails on that side of the river, except way up onto the mountain!)

Close-up of the village of Gorduno across the Ticino River. 

Just north of a small stream coming down from the Valle d'Arbedo, we head away from the vehicle road for a short stretch through the forest near the Moesa Delta. (Moesa is the large river flowing down from the San Bernardino Pass through the Mesocco Valley to enter the Ticino River here). 

The train passes us from Bellinzona heading north to the Gotthard Tunnel, as we get a nice look into the Mesocco Valley. 

Final stretch now as we cross the Moesa River (which flows into the Ticino River here) just before reaching the Castione-Arbedo train station (where we just missed the 15:05 train back to Bellinzona, and had to wait 30 minutes for the next train home from there. (Side Note: In September of 2024, I did a walk on my own coming down the Mesocco Valley along this river, and crossed the bridge here at the time as well. Those photos are HERE).  

What our walk looked like on Google Satellite Maps. 

These are all the hikes we have done in the region around Bellinzona. 

This is a photo from our March 2019 hike (photos HERE) when we walked high up on mountain above Monte Carasso. Down below we can see the stretch of the Ticino River at Arbedo, where the Moesa River enters the Ticino River from the Mesocco Valley. 

Also from our March 2019 walk on the mountain across from Bellinzona, we could see both the Montebello and Castel Grande Castles from above. 

San Vittore to Castione along the lower Mesolcina Valley

Tuesday September 10, 2024 -- As of September 2nd of this year, the passenger trains are once again running regularly through the Gotthard Base Tunnel (after being mostly out of commission due to massive damage on the railway tracks which happened in August 2023), and so we can be down in Bellinzona in warm weather once again in just 90 minutes from home!

As the weather has now turned quite cold in the North with lots of snow expected even at lower elevations as of Thursday, Ticino in the south is still experiencing temperatures in the high 20's. As this Tuesday was another beautiful day there, I planned a hike on my own again to take advantage of being able to get there quickly.

Near Bellinzona is a side valley called the Mesolcina (or Misox) Valley, most of which is actually in Canton Graubünden, although it is very much like being in Canton Ticino as Italian is spoken there. Back in November 2021 (photos HERE) we did a hike from another side valley called Val Calanca, crossing over into the Mesolcina and ending at the village of San Vittore, which at that time was almost in the shadow of valley bottom at 4 p.m. This is where I decided to start on my solo hike this day, hiking back up into the mountains above San Vittore, and heading out of the Mesolcina Valley to Lumino, ending with a walk along the Moesa River to Castione at the exit of the valley (now back in Canton Ticino). 

It was a two-hour trip to my starting point at San Vittore (where I spent an hour looking at a couple of significant historical churches), and a 90-minute trip back home. Nice to be in the sunshine for a walk this day, but going up the mountain, I really felt the heat!

Starting point in San Vittore at 10:15, my first goal is to head to the main church, which we did not visit last time (our trail at the time did not pass by here). This building is a museum. 

Frescoes on the outside of the Church of "Santi Vittore e Giovanni Battista"

This church is the main church of the Calanca and Mesolcina Valleys, built in 1219, restored from 1983 to 1990, and definitely worth visiting. I spent an hour here in San Vittore looking at this church and the smaller chapel of San Lucio, plus a detour to the tower before starting on my hike. 

The beautiful interior of the Collegiate Church in San Vittore

The beautiful interior of the Collegiate Church in San Vittore

The main altar has silver busts of bishops

I always photograph the organs, most of which are stunning works

Details of the inside of the Church of Saints Vittore and Giovanni Battista, especially some very nice side altars

Chiesa di Santi Vittore e Giovanni Battista

It's always nice to see palm trees in this region

South side of the church with the mountains in the back, where we descended from when we did the hike from the Calanca Valley in November 2021

From the main church, I walked back to the western end of the village, to photograph the other chapel (Capella San Lucio) with the tower ruins behind it. Last time we were here, this chapel was locked, so I headed to the other side to check on it again.... 

... and I was very lucky that the chapel was unlocked and I could see the inside. Very pretty frescoes again, and a steep wooden staircase which I climbed up into the tower area, where I could photograph the chapel insides from above. The chapel dates from 8th to 9th Century, and along with the church of S.Carpoforo in the town of Mesocco, is the oldest church building in the Mesolcina Valley. 

After visiting the churches in San Vittore, I started my hike at 11 a.m., and got to the train station at Castione at 3:15 p.m.

Last time we were here we also walked up to the tower (Torre di Pala), hoping to get access to the interior and the upper platform, but there was no access. I went up there again this day, but there was still no access. 

On the trail up to the tower, I encountered this little guy with so many feet!

Even though they have built a roof over the top of this tower ruins, which seems to indicate one should be able to access the top platform, there is no access. the tower is built on a steep boulder, and this door is locked. The door on the south side is missing the stairs. 

The Torre di Pala was assumed to have been built toward the end of the 8th Century, and was the residence of members of the Sax Family, feudal masters of the valley. 

View across the town of San Vittore up the Mesolcina Valley from near the tower

A zoomed view of the Church of St.Victor and John the Baptist, the most important church building in the valley. 

Here's where my trail started up the mountain, behind that bench, and with a couple of unobtrusive wooden signs. Without my GPS and map, I would have missed this!

I started my climb at 11:30, and had to ascend 300 meters through to forest, mostly along this steep stone stairway. Stairways make climbing easier, but it was very hot by this time, even in the partial shade of the forest. 

Through a clearing in the forest I can see a bit of the valley bottom. These stairs were great!

Despite the heat, I enjoyed this climb. At about the halfway mark I reached a stream (Sgravina) where I was glad to cool off. 

Later the trail got a bit tricky as it was still covered with last autumn's leaves, sometimes narrow, and with a steep incline on the valley side. 

At the highest point of my hike, I get this nice view over the southern part of the Mesolcina Valley (San Vittore below, and Roveredo in the back). From Roveredo, the valley bends and becomes a north/south valley

I was amused at the sign at this junction... the sign for the direction I had just come from (San Vittore) reads "Scala Longa", which means "Long Ladder", which explains a lot about the long ascent on the stone steps! From here the trail descends again to Monticello (or Monzel) and Lumino. 

On the way downhill again, there was a large clearing with a single house where I had hoped to stop for my picnic lunch, but it was entirely surrounded by a fence. (Shortly afterwards, the trail reached a paved road, and I found a log in the shade to sit on, near a water trough to fill up with cold water!)

At 1:15 p.m. I reached another clearing (and large vineyard, on this sunny side of the hill) called "Dro Bass de Bass"

Someone up here does some nice wooden sculptures!

Another view toward Roveredo from across this lovely vineyard!

This section of forest used to be a chestnut grove, as evidenced by the large old chestnut trees

Ah, a bridge! Always happy to cross bridges!

There was even a chain hand-rail here, totally not necessary

A typical pool formed by waterfalls and rivers in these steep hillsides. The river comes down from a very steep valley called Val Maiòo 

The hollow remains of another old chestnut tree

Just before reaching valley bottom, you pass through a community called Monticello (or Monzel). The tree in the back is an olive tree, but the other one is a "rare" pomegranate tree! (I think this is only the second one we have seen on our travels).

Pomegranates!

A view over the rooftops of Monticello... with the lovely palm trees. A veritable Mediterranean-style climate!

Always interesting buildings along the way. 

A look back at the church in Monticello. It was locked, which is a shame, as this kind of building usually has interesting frescoes on the inside. (I should have noted its name, as I could not locate this on Internet Maps later). 

There is an entire mountain hamlet on the other side of this peak, accessed by cable car from Lumino

At 2 p.m. I reached the cable-car station (on the right) and the small chapel in Lumino (with the fancy name of "Oratorio della Madonna della Salute o di Bertè") which unfortunately was also locked. But that wooden sculpture looks very much like the ones I saw in the clearing higher up on the mountain!

Unfortunately this church was locked. We were here twice before and also rode the cable car up to Monti Savoru, from where we once walked down to Claro on the other side (photos HERE)

A little further down now and along the main road is the parish church of Lumino, namely San Mamete, built in 1530 at the site of an earlier 1237 church. 

Interior of the St.Mamete church

Particularly pretty were these two side altars. 

From Lumino I make my way now down to the Moesa River, to continue walking along it out of the valley. I pass just to the south of the St. Mamete church. 

A look up the Mesolcina Valley as I cross the freeway.

And a look down the valley as I cross the Moesa River. 

On the south side of the river is this interesting little grotto (restaurant that serves local products) with a large set of picnic tables under shady trees on the right. (We might have stopped here for a drink if Urs had been along). Of most interest for me were those two ladies at the end who have a dog at their feet, although everywhere were signs that no dogs were allowed...

No dogs allowed??

The road along the south side of the Moesa River. It was pleasant to walk here, as it was mostly in the shade of the forest until I reached the outskirts of the town of Arbedo.

Bridge over the Moesa River from Arbedo to Castione. (I had to cross here to get to the train station). Someone is enjoying the shade under the bridge!

Crossing the bridge over the River Moesa, for the final 1/2 kilometer to the train station. (The parallel valley here -- Bellinzona to the south, heading to Biasca to the north -- is known as the Riviera). It looks like you can swim in the river! The famous Tibetan hanging bridge of Carasc is in the large valley on the south of that mountain

These are all the hikes we have done in the region of the Calanca Valley and the southern end of the Mesolcina Valley. You can see where the Canton Border goes through Lumino and the crest of Pizzo di Claro. So I started in Canton Graubünden, and ended in Canton Ticino.

First I had to take an urban train from Castione back to Bellinzona, and from here (view up the Riviera to the Claro Monastery on the hillside below Pizzo di Claro) a fast train heading north again through the Gotthard Base Tunnel, to be home in about 90 minutes!

Location of San Vittore and Lumino within Switzerland. 

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